Newcastle artist Charles Milsom has won the 2015 Archibald prize with his portrait of Sydney barrister Charles Waterstreet.
This struck me as a very Sydney prize. Waterstreet is a larger than life Sydney barrister, a writer and film maker. He is co-creator of the popular ABC TV drama series Rake, a program loosely based on Waterstreet's own life, that features some of the seedier sides of Sydney life.
Waterstreet represented and helped Milsom when the painter was charged with armed robbery. Speaking of Waterstreet, Milsom said:
"I've tried to depict his otherworldly-type character," Milsom told ABC News.
"He's a complex person so I've had to try and exaggerate a lot of his physical features to capture his largeness."
The ABC has release an interesting montage of all the Archibald winners. Enjoy.
18 comments:
Thank you for the information on the Archies. With my Polish holidays I have missed so many of them. I hope I will be able to see the exhibition on my return.
Watching the montage of Archibald winners woke up a militant feminist in me. Mind you, I read Virginia Woolf lately. Maybe too much of it??? This montage shows so clearly that the objects of the portraits are mainly men. Shocking! So many portraits and so few women on them. Why?
I noticed that, too, AC. I wasn't surprised at the earlier pattern, just at its apparent continuation. As a matter of curiosity, I quickly scanned this year's short-listed entries. Don't hold me to the exact maths, it was a quick count, but c38/50 featured men. Statistically, that made it highly likely that a portrait of a man would win.
There is also a decided minority of female artists, never mind who they painted. And also dogs and cats. I would have suggested a government review, with perhaps quotas to correct these blatant disparities, but my exulansis is turning into liberosis; so much so that I think I will revert to my normal state of chrysalism.
kvd
Do I detect sarcasm kvd? Even as a militant feminist I would not suggest quotas, just a reflection. This is the world we live in and I made an observation that surprised me. I would like to understand this mechanism a bit better. Your answer makes me think that there is still a tendency to turn issues of equality into a joke. This may make me really into a militant feminist. So far I have thought of myself as a person who does not see reasons to fight for women's rights just help some of them sometimes.
Compliments on your vocabulary.
My Observations, please feel free to detect sarcasm where ever you wish. This doesn't change the fact that painters of the female gender have been less hung, and female subjects less presented, than that of that other crowd - aka men.
My observation is that this means not very much in the endless battle of the sexes, but some possible conclusions are:
1 there are more male artists
2 the wreakage of time is more apparent on the male visage, and more interesting
3 women spend more time concealing their true persona; and few can be bothered to dig through that
4 failure is actually more interesting than successful concealment
But a question: how does one these days actually differentiate between "militant feminism" and simply being female?
With high regards, and absolutely no sarcasm.
kvd
Hi AC. I think that kvd has been digging into the dictionary of obscure sorrows. kvd, AC might come back at you with some references about the barriers that women artists did face. Very precisely, art was seen as a suitable occupation for a women, but Art was not. I don't think that's true anymore, its been changing over time, so its still a legitimate question.
I don't think that its true now that male artists outnumber female.
On the difference between militant feminism and being female, if you are now struggling to differentiate, remind me to introduce you to some rampant feminists!
Jim, I paid AC the compliment of treating her as an equal, yet you would step in and defend? It seems to me that you have more to struggle with than me :)
kvd
ps the difference between art and Art has rather more to do with the worth of the output than the sex of the artist. You will not be thanked by any artist for referring to their sex in assessing their output. Equally applicable for lawyers, IT people, and managing directors, I believe.
OK, I am not sitting here, in far away Gdansk, sulking and being upset. Far from it. I am really reading Virginia Woolf big way. Three books at the same time. All in Polish. Her diaries, letters to kindred spirits and her short stories. I am reading them all correlating the time they were written in. I was thinking that it is time to write my observations on it. And then your post, Jim, followed by kvd comments.This definitely needs some reflection and a new post.It will come soon.
It would be fun to exchange more comments, kvd has a really great way to spark an interesting exchange and I like it. However, I have a busy day ahead of me.
I am looking forward to a future banter.
Hi kvd. AC seems to have survived the exchange!
On art vs Art I was referring to past social mores.Upper middle class women were expected to be able to paint and draw, but art as a profession was not seen as suitable for women. The conflicts this created come through quite clearly in the biographies of women painters from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The best portrait never hung, and never seen by me except in imagination, is to be found in one of Dick Francis' novels. And it also contains a brilliant muse upon the philosophy of golf - a special treat this day as I look forward to the final round of The Open!
Jim, I am sure you will remember that book; perhaps give a gift of it to AC upon her return? There are worse things than sharing well loved writing, I think.
AC if ever in my valley you must visit Galleria Aniela. The owner is a friend, and is also of Polish origin; it is quite remarkable how you two 'sound' so alike - including your views on feminism:) Along with being charming, Aniela has done much work in the promotion of the Boyd family of artists, and I've many times had the pleasure of a sneak preview of upcoming exhibitions over a cup of coffee.
kvd
Hi kvd. There are actually a number of painting references in DF, but I assume that you are referring to "In the Frame"?
On sharing well loved writing, that is indeed a pleasure!
I haven't visited Galleria Aniela, but the web site is really very attractive - http://www.galeriaaniela.com.au/. Oh that I still had money to buy art!
"To The Hilt" - with 'mad Alexander' in the bothy. Painted the inspector lady from the National Trust using a baking thermometer as I remember it, but made his living from selling golfing subjects into the American market. Francis really got into the nitty gritty of his various subjects in a way which made perfect sense to me. Not the present weather for a re-read - too much like shivery real life at the mo'.
As a matter of interest, re GA, a couple of the Aboriginal artworks I care for (you never actually 'own' good art, I think) are still featured on her website.
kvd
Ah, kvd, I have read that book but don't actually have it. Need to find it again!
Jim, when you view that painting - is that blood (I hope it is) on Waterstreet's left hand?
It is a seriously good painting of a fellow whose writings I have read for several years, but I just wondered (what it might mean), because your image is not clear.
kvd
Thank you kvd for letting me know about Galleria Aniela. The lady seems to be a strong personality, would love to meet her one day. A women with a vision and determination to make things happen. Am I right or is it just my impression? Love the way she displays art.
I had to write this feministic post and it is there in My Observations. I think that I am a mild feminist after all.
Hi AC - yes, your impression of Aniela is quite correct; she is also one of the most astute business owners that I have met in her ability to make useful connections.
I read your feminism post, and am left with the impression that you worked hard and succeeded on your own merits, and only then began to muse upon the possible inequalities you may have unwittingly overcome? That seems a little back-assward to me, if you will allow a colloquialism.
We can only each deal with what we face in our own lives, I think, and you seem to have done that quite well. Perhaps Jim put it more clearly in another recent post: "The world's problems are too big for any of us to handle. We can only deal with them in our individual space".
Meanwhile, in my own space, I am solidly with you; and the sooner men are granted full equality the better!
kvd
Hi kvd,
You made me laugh with your last comment. It is a friendly laugh, and you are right in some sense. There is discomfort on both sides and I would not swap places with a man.I like my female problems and my equal place in the world. For me it is more about other women, the young ones.
Is my musing back-assward? In a way it is. I was not that clever before I got some distance to the issue.
Yes, Jim put it very nicely.
Thank you, Jim, for letting in a foreign subject to your village.
Hi kvd and AC. Enjoyed your post, AC. kvd, I wondered about the blood, too. AC, the village is made up of those who want to play!
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